After the interrogation-like questioning ended, we left the faculty office.
I walked side by side with Dang Gyu-young and asked her a question.
“Are we going back to the downtown area?”
“Mhmm, we need to finish up there. But we can take our time.”
She had handed over command to Chae Da-bin and the graduates were still around.
Since the urgent times had passed, it didn’t matter if we took it easy.
So we walked leisurely as if we were on a stroll.
After a moment of silence, Dang Gyu-young suddenly spotted a bench at the corner and spoke up.
“My legs hurt. Let’s sit and rest for a while.”
“Sure, let’s do that.”
Although all her injuries had been healed with the basic elixir, the accumulated fatigue was another matter.
Dang Gyu-young had spent the entire day running the black market, darting here and there, and had even fought a life-or-death battle with the Blood Cult Elder.
Now that the tension had eased, it was only natural that the accumulated fatigue would hit her.
Conveniently, there was a vending machine right in front of us, so Dang Gyu-young stood in front of it.
“What do you want to drink? Coffee?”
Clunk,
“Coffee sounds good.”
Dang Gyu-young took out two cans of coffee, handed one to me, and we started sipping them side by side on the bench.
Dang Gyu-young who was tilting her can back and forth began to speak.
“Judging by the results alone, this year’s black market was a success.”
“Yes, it was.”
The thieves club and the disciplinary committee were in a fierce battle of wits and surveillance over the black market, but everything turned upside down when the Blood Cult Elder appeared.
The invasion of the dungeon island by hostile forces was a top priority that had to be dealt with immediately.
Compared to that, the black market was a minor incident.
The disciplinary committee members who were scattered all over the downtown area would have stopped their random inspections and searches of the exchange and focused on this incident.
They would have pursued even the smallest traces of the invaders.
Now that the downtown area suddenly became a deserted place, the thieves club could run the black market without worry.
This year, the black market’s arrest rate might hit an unprecedented low.
“… If you just look at the results.”
Dang Gyu-young muttered this to herself.
Her expression wasn’t bright. As if something was bothering her.
“Kim Ho, I just remembered something.”
“Yes, senior-nim?”
“That graffiti; you changed the time and place as you wanted, right?”
“I did.”
“Why did you choose today?”
“It had to be today.”
Facing a Blood Cult elder was impossible with a student’s skill level.
We needed the help of graduates or higher.
So we had to settle things before the graduates left Dungeon Island. That’s why I chose a day when the downtown area would be crowded with graduates and the disciplinary committee members.
That was today when the downtown market and the black market were open.
“So, you used us?”
“To be honest, yes.”
I didn’t deny it.
Dang Gyu-young’s expression darkened further.
She swirled her can of coffee with dissatisfaction and asked again.
“If I had refused to help, what would you have done?”
“I would have found another way.”
I had to defeat the Bamboo Hat Man by any means necessary.
Even if it meant revealing some of my cards, I would have sought help from the disciplinary committee or graduates.
When she heard this, Dang Gyu-young seemed to realize something.
She looked away from her can of coffee and stared at me.
“You, by any chance, were you testing me?”
Her eyes pleaded for a different answer.
I remained silent for a moment before responding.
“Yes.”
“……That’s mean, really.”
The time when Chae Dabin discovered Bamboo Hat Elder and gave me a hint, that is, the time when the Blood Cult elder was lured to the designated place, was during the peak of the black market.
Therefore, Dang Gyu-young faced a choice.
Should she let me go alone and continue running the black market, or should she help me?
However, Dang Gyu-young didn’t hesitate for a moment and followed me. She even accepted the huge loss that would come from her and the shrewd-looking graduate’s absence.
But in the end, I had tested Dang Gyu-young.
“Using people and testing them like that. I have the right to be angry, don’t I?”
“It was my fault.”
I silently nodded my head.
Although it was something I had to do, it was true that I had focused excessively on efficiency in the process.
When I admitted my fault, Dang Gyu-young leaned towards me and bumped her head against my shoulder.
Bump, bump, bump.
After bumping her head a few more times, Dang Gyu-young rested her forehead on my shoulder and spoke.
“Don’t do that next time. I told you, I’ll be your accomplice. No matter what you say, I’ll believe you, so why can’t you trust me and had to test me?”
“…….”
“Can’t you trust me just a little more?”
“From now on, I will trust you. I promise.”
When I held out my pinky finger, Dang Gyu-young saw it and quickly raised her head.
The surprise was evident on her face.
“…Really?”
“Really.”
Dang Gyu-young extended her pinky finger to link with mine.
“Seal it too.”
“Let’s do that.”
Following Dang Gyu-young’s request, we pressed our thumbs together while keeping our pinkies linked. Seal done.
Dang Gyu-young’s expression brightened as if it had never been dark.
Before we knew it, the canned coffee was empty, so we stood up.
We had rested enough.
As we walked, Dang Gyu-young moved closer and spoke again.
“Hey, don’t you think it’s time we change what we call each other?”
“Change how?”
“Yeah. ‘Senior’ feels a bit distant.”
“I think ‘Senior’ is fine. So, what should I call you?”
As if she had been waiting for my question, Dang Gyu-young smiled and answered.
“Noona~ Try calling me ‘Gyu-young noona’.”
“No, thanks. Senior-nim.”
“Ah, why!”
“I just don’t want to.”
“It’s not even difficult!”
“It is for me. I can’t bring myself to say it.”
“Just once!”
Dang Gyu-young pulled my arm and shook it. She was pleading.
Usually, if I firmly refused, she would quickly accept it and back off but today she was unusually persistent.
After a long struggle near the bench, Dang Gyu-young finally took a step back.
“Are you really not going to do it?”
Her lips started to pout slightly, and her cheeks puffed up a bit.
She was clearly on the verge of sulking.
Did she really want to hear me call her that badly?
“Fine, you win.”
In truth, just like Dang Gyu-young had said, changing what I called her wasn’t a difficult request.
So I casually blurted out the words as I started walking.
“Let’s go, noona.”
“……!”
For a moment, Dang Gyu-young stared at me blankly.
Then her lips slowly began to curl into a smile.
“Hehe, hehehe.”
A slight blush appeared on her face as she started to giggle.
“Hehe, hehehehe.”
“You were the one who told me to do it.”
“Because I like it. Do it one more time. Hurry up, noona~”
“No, senior-nim.”
I refused firmly.
In the dungeon building.
In a dungeon on the underground floor.
A man wearing a rough martial arts uniform was standing on the sandy beach and looking out at the sea.
Various marine monsters swarmed below the surface, but none dared to reveal themselves.
This meant that the man’s martial strength was overwhelming.
As he stood there idly watching the waves, someone spoke to him from behind.
“Not a bad place for a secret meeting, right?”
“It certainly seems so.”
The man agreed and turned around.
There stood a woman cloaked in a robe.
The robe was made of the same rough material as the man’s uniform, but something like an ornament seemed to glimmer faintly through the gaps.
“Before the school was built, all sorts of villains gathered here.”
“There are plenty of hiding spots.”
The underground floor of the dungeon building was so vast and deep that even with security crystal balls installed and staff patrolling regularly, there were always gaps.
Exploiting these gaps to enter the dungeon was an easy task for these two.
The robed woman got to the point.
“I heard the news. Elder Choi was taken down, right?”
“Yes. The human butcher took action, I heard.”
“Our plan seems a little different from this… What do you think?”
Her tone was soft, but her eyes held a chilling aura.
The man in martial uniform and the robed woman were in a cooperative relationship.
Before infiltrating Dungeon Island, they had made several plans together.
But the capture of “Elder Choi” was not part of those plans, so she was questioning him while also reproaching him.
Of course, the man in martial uniform had no idea what was going on either.
He cursed inwardly.
That idiot. Why did he crawl in there at that time?
They had agreed to communicate and act only through coded messages, so why did he suddenly act on his own?
However, the man in martial uniform didn’t show his inner turmoil and maintained a calm expression as he replied.
“I fully understand your concern, but there will be no setback in the plan. I guarantee it.”
“Well, I want to believe you since you, Elder, say so, but this incident has slightly cracked my trust.”
“What should I do?”
“It would be nice if you showed me your cards in advance.”
The robed woman smiled faintly.
Although they had made plans and divided roles, they hadn’t disclosed the details to each other.
Most of it contained the secrets of their respective organizations.
But now, since the side of the man in martial uniform had unilaterally broken the trust, he had to accommodate her demands to smooth things over.
He took out a briefcase from his inventory and opened it.
Inside, instead of documents, the briefcase was filled with syringes containing a liquid as red as blood.
“These are our sect’s Blood Explosion Elixirs.”
“It’s been a while since I heard that name. But isn’t this supposed to be a pill?”
“It’s been processed into liquid form for convenience.”
“I see.”
The robed woman nodded her head.
A more clear picture of how the Blood Sect intended to carry out their role in the plan formed in her mind.
“Alright, I’ll trust you and lend a hand. I hope you achieve your desired results in the midterm exam.”
“There’s no need to hope. It’s already decided.”
The man in martial uniform spoke with absolute confidence.
Meanwhile, eyes were watching them from a short distance away.
A man in a suit with a sword at his waist.
He was one of the staff members of Dragon Slayer Academy, and while patrolling the underground floor, he noticed suspicious movements and followed them into this dungeon.
As he suspected, the two were members of an enemy faction.
It seemed they were planning something for the midterms.
I must report this immediately.
“What’s so interesting to watch?”
Swish!
The moment the voice echoed from behind him, the man in the suit slashed at the source.
His sword moved so swiftly that it was invisible to the eye.
However, his blade merely cut through empty air.
In the next instant, he felt a soft touch brush across his abdomen.
But the result was anything but gentle.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
The touched area on his abdomen began to rot rapidly while emitting a foul odor.
His skin turned black in an instant, and his veins bulged and burst.
He had heard of such a skill before.
A necromancer’s close-combat technique.
Necrograsp…!
From this, he could infer the group to which the robed woman belonged.
She was far more dangerous than he had anticipated.
Despite the excruciating pain, he mustered all his strength and pushed off the ground.
He needed to get as far away from them as possible.
I must return, no matter what…!
“You still have the strength to run? Your spirit is worthy of praise.”
“Indeed.”
Strangely, their voices did not seem to get any closer to him as he kept running.
There was no way they had given up the chase.
Just as the man was feeling puzzled, he thought he heard the snap of fingers from somewhere.
Then, his rotting abdomen began to swell rapidly like a balloon.
At that moment, another skill name flashed through his mind.
Corruption… Explosion…
Boooom.
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